Callum O'Connell

Mon 2 October 2023 7:45, UK

Carlos Corberan has explained his “crazy” decision to drop Brandon Thomas Asante to the bench in favour of starting Jed Wallace up front for West Brom against Preston North End, stating it was simply rotation.

The decision had faced some criticism before the game, with the Baggies struggling for goals, it seemed ridiculous that the boss would drop his only recognised out-and-out striker to the bench.

Ultimately though he was proven right, with his West Brom side rampant at Deepdale, and he explained he wanted his captain on the pitch while using other players, namely Grady Diangana, in his usual wide position.

Speaking to Birmingham Live on 2 October, the boss stated: “Sometimes when you are a coach and make a decision to not start with a specific striker, but to play with a player who can play in the position but isn’t a specific striker, is always a risk because when you don’t score the goals it’s because you’re crazy for playing with no specific striker.

“Now if you score goals, I don’t know – what does it mean? For me, it means you have done the correct thing, the correct decision.

“For me now we have two strikers, Wallace and Asante after the injury of Maja, but fortunately after the recovery of Diangana, he can play as a winger, where Wallace was playing before.

“In one week of games, with games in a row, you need to rest one striker because you have the possibility to impact games from the bench if you really need to impact.

“Wallace right now is a striker, Asante the other one, that’s why we decided to play with Wallace. I wanted to have other players in different positions and Wallace on the pitch.”

A big call that paid off in the end

If Corberan’s side had struggled to find the net, chances are the fault would have rested with the boss and his decision to rotate the only recognised striker in his squad, but ultimately, as is often the case, the big call ended up being the right one.

Wallace’s inclusion up top was largely because the boss thought the game would suit him. He wanted him on the pitch, while Diangana was the preferred wide option, so it made sense for Wallace to slot in elsewhere.

On top of that, squad rotation is normal throughout the season, particularly when teams are now being tasked with three games per week. If Thomas-Asante had started and picked up a knock then different questions would have been asked.

Corberan showed once again why he is revered and respected at The Hawthorns, making big calls and sticking to his guns, and things finally look to be going their way.

In other West Brom news, Karlan Grant has sent a message to one West Brom star.